Jars of Clay’s newest album drops next week. Two tracks have been released digitally over the last couple of months. Both hint at Jars being in a great place both lyrically and musically. It’s also, I believe, the first album from their own label, so I get the feeling that there will be a bit more free rein with the finished product. They recently performed the title track, “Inland,” at a concert in Franklin, NC. I think you might like it.
I was looking around Funny or Die a few nights ago looking for the horror version of The Giving Tree (so bloody!) and then a look at Disney’s vehicle movies (so many obvious puns) when I came across something I might have vaguely known existed but had never watched: The Doctor Puppet.
Now I’m not one for obviously cute things, especially puppets, but the creator behind this series (Alisa Stern) has done some brilliant work. Lots of nods to the Doctor’s 50 years embedded in an ongoing mystery. Plus there’s little-to-no dialogue (mostly narration, sonic screwdrivers, and psychic paper). Check out the first “epidose” below.
You can see the second episode here, the third here, and the fourth here. There’s even a Christmas episode that you can see here.
Something to tide us all over until Thanksgiving, I suppose.
Every fall semester I play Sara Groves’s “Maybe There’s a Loving God” for my students. I’m not sure if it’s a meaningful moment for them, but it is for me. Something about Groves’s music hits a certain spot of the heart in a certain way for me, and I’m glad for the reminders her music brings.
One of my favorites is the song “Why It Matters.” I love her insistence on telling the story, having the story told, knowing that anyone who speaks of Jesus and the Bible is more than a storyteller, is a narrator. And while the distinction may be a fine one, it is also an important one. I pray we’ll all tell the story well today.
Somewhere between home and work yesterday morning, Relevant Magazine posted a video of a speech given by Ashton Kutcher at the Teen Choice Awards. I was so impressed with what he said (all the while receiving screams from his female teenage fans), that I showed two of my classes. I had them write down the one thing he said that they thought was the most important. It was an interesting conversation. So check your fears and apprehensions and watch the video below. He speaks some truth.
The folks over at Litro Magazine in England have posted a couple of interesting pieces on Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. Penumbra, the magazine’s current “book club book,” was one of my favorite books in 2012, a great example of the balance between technologies old and new.
The first article posted to the magazine’s site is an interview with Sloan about his background and writing experience. From the beginning of the interview you get a sense of Sloan’s optimism, which is nice (and I’m not always the most optimistic about technology). He also mentions Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, which is a series I read and loved during my time in Texas. When asked about technology and how it changes the way we read:
I think it’s giving us new ways to read. . . “Reading” is not just one thing, and right now we’re seeing a sort of Cambrian explosion of different kinds and contexts. That’s nothing but exciting.
Best unexpected interview prompt: Tell us about the first time you realised that the world may not be as it seems.
The second article posted to the site is a review/opening discussion about the book from Thomas Chadwick that’s worth the read if you’re already acquainted with the novel.
Need something to watch after binge-watching season 4 of Arrested Development but before the release of Thor: The Dark World? Check out this clip of “Thorested Development” by OnlyLeigh. Saw it posted at Robot 6 this afternoon and quite enjoyed it. AD running gags abound.
The folks over at The Rabbit Room are streaming songs from Andy Gullahorn’s new album throughout the day. I’ve had a digital copy of the collection for a few days, and it plays well. Beyond the Frame is a collection of songs that Gullahorn has written for his friends over the past few years. I forget that there are still phrases to be turned in music, and then I hear Gullahorn at his best and remember. Adding one song per hour throughout the day, the Rabbit Room is also posting a short commentary for each track. Go to The Rabbit Room and enjoy the first three songs of the album, including one of my favorites: “The Surface of Things.”
It’s been a great week in the world of quality music. Derek Webb did a digital release of his upcoming album, I Was Wrong, I’m Sorry, and I Love You. Then Andrew Osenga’s Kickstarter project closed well ahead of it baseline, so he released a few new songs to supporters. And it turns out that Andy Gullahorn has a new album dropping in a few days and available for purchase at the Rabbit Room. Here’s one of the songs from his new album, Beyond the Frame. “Skinny Jeans” is in the same vein as songs like “Green Hills Mall” and “She Puts Her Money Where Her Mouth Is.” Quality musical satire.
It’s one thing for TV Guide to make a big deal about the tenth anniversary of The O.C. But Grantland? That caught me by surprise.
It seems like every entertainment website has been mentioning the tenth anniversary of The O.C.‘s debut on Fox on August 5, 2003. It’s sort of interesting when a show gets this much attention, however fleeting, and more so when it’s a teen drama that lasted for four seasons. But there it was: a nice collection of OC-inspired reflections at Grantland.com. You’ve got Tom Carson’s “Ten Years Gone” and an article on the show’s impact on indie rock and even a staff-wide reflection collection. Then Grantland-Master Bill Simmons got into the game and I realized that he was in on the show big-time from the very beginning. But it’s Andy Greenwald’s article on the show that I enjoyed the most.
I have only vague memories of the show’s first season. It was one of the few new shows on when I first moved to Hawaii. I knew about it’s indie music sensibilities. I was surprised to see a show start a season a good number of episodes before the fictional school year actually started. After reading Greenwald’s article, I watched the first couple of episodes again and enjoyed them. The show is often viewed as being about welcoming in the stranger, which is a big part of the show (what Greenwald considers the initial hook of the show). But I really like his take on what the show evolved into: being on the outside even when you’re on the inside:
The core of The O.C. was about protecting the fragile Cohen household — led by Peter Gallagher’s liberal lawyer Sandy and his warm shiksa wife, Kirsten, played by Kelly Rowan — from the cynical creep of commercialism and spirit-deadening cushion of privilege that surrounded it on all sides.
In the midst of all this talk, no one has overlooked the fact that the show lost a lot of its zip after the first season and almost never got it back (almost, mind you). But the beginning, like a handful of other shows, started strong and idealistic and hopeful. And that’s worth remembering. Greenwald concludes his look back with commentary on a set visit and the beauty of television:
The O.C. was a show, and an experience, about growing up — especially behind the camera even as things were falling apart in front of it. Now that I write about TV full-time, I often think of that first set visit as a reminder that everything on the air is personal to somebody, even if the specific material isn’t, and that much of what we fall in love with on TV is really just the hope and promise of beginnings. On soap operas, as in real life, the start of something is always brighter and better than the eventual slow fade of endings. What unites those who make television with those who watch it is just how cruel and great the medium can be, often at the same time; how it greets you with a smile only to inevitably punch you in the face.
Beginnings and endings and ten years passing. If nothing else, it’s good to remember the promise of things, even if what comes next is something like that punch in the face.
2011’s reboot of The Muppets might have been just sort of miraculous. The music was great. The plot had fresh twists on a classic trope: the comeback. And there was enough of an edge that it fit well with most of The Muppet Show. Yesterday Disney posted the first trailer for the next movie, Muppets Most Wanted. While it’s sad that Jason Segel and Amy Adams won’t be back, Tina Fey and crew should help keep that manic Muppet style.
Space Enough, and Time 